Separable fastener for boots and shoes.



J. JEFFERSON.

SEPARABLE FASTENER FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1908.

94.:O,4=62a Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

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JEPPE JEPPERSON, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

SEPABABLE FASTENER FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

oaoaca Application filed. May 5, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEPPE Jnrrnnson, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented new and useful Improvements in Separable Fasteners for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a simple, durable and effective means for drawing together the upper of a boot or shoe from the top to the vamp, and holding the upper closed over thefront of the foot from the instep to the ankle.

It is also a purpose of the invention to provide a fastening device of the character referred to, that can be quickly and conven iently brought to closing position and as readily and rapidly carried to a releasing position, enabling the boot or shoe to be unobstructively removed from the foot.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe having the improved retaining device applied; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a shoe adapted to receive the improved retaining device, the device having been removed; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the front upper portion of the shoe and applied retaining device; Fig. t. is an enlarged longitudinal section througl'i the upper front portion of the shoe and the retaining device; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the front portion of the upper just above the vamp and corresponding portion of the retaining device; Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of one form of the retaining device; and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the guides applied to the shoe at its front opening, showing in dotted lines the manner in which the retaining device is received thereby.

The top section A'of the boot or shoe, is provided with the customary front opening 10, that extends from the vamp B to the top portion of the upper, as is shown in Fig. 2. At each side of the said opening 10 in the said upper, a series of hooks B is arranged,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

Serial No. 430,933.

one above the other. These hooks, as is particularly shown in Fig. 7, are each preferably made from a single piece of wire of suitable gage, bent upon itself to form an outwardly extending head or hook section 11, a horizontal shank sect-ion 12, and clenching sections 13 that are passed through the material of the top section A of the boot or shoe and are suitably pressed to engagement with the inner face thereof.

The fastening device employed is in the nature of an external tongue C, adapted to have guided connection with the hooks B, and sliding relation therewith. The said external tongue G, when in proper position, covers the front opening 10 in the shoe its full length, and extends from the vamp B to and beyond the upper end of the upper or top section A of the shoe. At the lower end of the said opening 10, a strap 14;, of metal or other suitable material or the equivalent thereof, is secured to the vamp, as is shown in Figs. 2 and 5; and as particularly shown in Fig. 2, staples 15 or like devices are secured to the upper or top section A of the shoe at the upper end portion of each line of hooks B.

The external tongue C, may be of different character and when engaging with the hooks B, draw the opposing edges of the opening 10 more or less in direction of each other and completely cover said opening. This contact is made by drawing the tongue upward from the vamp to a locking engagementwith the strap 14: and staples 15 or their equivalents. hen the shoe is to be removed, the tongue 0 employed, is simply slipped. downward and is entirely disconnected from the shoe, releasing as well as in its closing movement, by the hooks B, as is shown in Fig. 5.

As stated, the tongue C may be given any desired shape, but in each instance the tongue 0 consists of a body section 16, either plain or ornamental, being preferably provided with decorated or scalloped loi'igitudinal edges 17, and with parallel longitudibeing guided in its nal plates 18 at each side of its center upon which the scalloped edge portions and the plates 18 are secured in any approved mani i ner.

The opposing edges of the plates 18 are sufficiently removed from the under face of a tongue C, to receive and provide a runway for the hooks B. as is shown in F 3, a and 5.

Each tongue C is provided with means for locking engagement with the strap 14 and the staples 15 on a shoe, and such locking device may be of different forms, but preferably a hook 20 is employed to engage the strap 14, as is shown in Figs. 5 and G. The tongue 0 is preferably strengthened at the top and bottom by metallic ornaments, 21 and 22, or ornaments of other character, that will give stability to such parts and facilitate the placing of a tongue C in position or the removal of a tongue from the boot or shoe.

lVhen the tongue is in closing relation the shoe, as is illustrated in Fig. 1, it is locking engagement with the staples 15 atthe top edge of the upper A. One form of such a locking device is shown in Fig. 6, consisting of a piece of spring \vire suitably attached to the tongue and bent upon itself to form opposing free corrugated members 23 and 24, which when pressed together can be made to enter the staples 15, as is illustrated in Fig. 4.

I desire it to be understood that any suitable finger piece may be employed for operating the tongue (I.

\Vhen the shoe is to be secured upon a foot, the tongue C is engaged with the hooks B, and is drawn upward to locking engagement with the strap 11 and the staples l5, and when the shoe is to be removed, the fastening devices are released from the staples 15, and the tongue is slid downward until it is free from the shoe, leaving the shoe in the condition shown in F 2.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In combination with a boot or shoe hav- I l l g g l l ing an opening extending from the vamp, and a series of independent hooks arranged at each side of said opening and forming guides, of a tongue having longitudinally extending plates on its rear surface at each side of its center, means for spacing the said plates from the body of the tongue, the plates being adapted for sliding engagement with the said hooks, and arranged to draw the edges of said opening together or permit them to separate, and locking means for the tongue.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, a removable exterior tongue for boots and shoes, having a body section provided with a longitudinal binding at its side edges. an edge section secured to the binding at the under face of the tongue, and longitu-.

dinal plates also secured to the binding at the under face of the tongue and spaced from the body section of the tongue by said binding forming a slideway, the tongue being provided with locking means for engagement with the shoe.

The combination with a boot or shoe having an opening extending from the vamp, and guides arranged at, each side of said opening, of a removable exterior tongue having a body section provided with a longitudinal binding at its side edges, longitudinal plates secured to the binding at the under face of the tongue and spaced from the body section of the tongue by said binding forming a slideway for engagement with said guides, and locking means carried by the tongue for engagement with the shoe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JEPPE JEPPERSON.

\Vitnesses VILLLXM O. YoUxe, JOSEPH E. J EPPERSON. 

